Rington



(No Model.)

O. STADTFELD.

AUTOMATIO mm swrrcn.

No. 567,175. Patented Sep NITED TATES ATENT FICE" CHARLES STAD'IFELD, OF DAYTON, OHIO, ASSIGNOR T0 GEORGE 0. \/VAR- RINGTON, OF SAME PLAGE.

AUTOMATIC CAR=SWITCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letteics Patent No. 567,175, dated September 8, 1896.

Application filed January 24, 1896. Serial No. 576,640. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES STADTFELD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Dayton, in the oounty of Montgomery and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatio Car- Switohes; and I do hereby deolare that the following is a full, clear, ami exact deseription thereof, which will enab1e others skilled in the art to whioh it1 appertaifls to make and use the same, referenoe being had '00 the aocompanying drawings, and to the letfiers and figures of reference marked thereon, whieh form a part of this specifieation.

My invention relates to improvements in automatio ear swi'uehes, the featires of whieh Will be fully hereinafter desoribed and claimed.

The objeet of my invention is to operate a traek-switeh by some ageney attaehed 130 a moving car whieh Will depress a lever, the vertieal bar of whioh is normally suffieiently elevated above the surfaee for the purpose. \Vhen depressed, it operates a weighsed lever whieh earries the sliding bar 00 which is attaehed che switeh-bar. The objeet is accomplshed by the devioe illustrated in the aeoompanying drawings, in whioh- Figure 1 is a plan of the deviee as attaehed no the usual form of railway-track and swtohbar. Fig. 2 is a side elevaton of the deviee, showing traek and car. Fig. 3 is an enlarged detailed view of the principal operative parts. Fig. 4 is a similar transverse view.

Like letters and numerals designate like parts throughout the severa1 vews.

The form of the main traek, the side or turning-off traok, and. the pivotal shift bar 01 switch is identieal in eonstructon wiuh those in general use.

A A are the main tracks of a railway, B B the turning off traoks, and I the pivotal switch-bar. These have the usual supporting-ties 0. The usual guide-rails are used, but the guide-rail K s the only one shown. Beneat-h the rails is supported 1Jhe sliding bar 10, and so this bar is secured the switeh-bar by the pin 19. The ground is excavated beneaoh the tracks, and 011 sieepers wthin this eavity are supported t-he several parts of the device. T0 the under side of sliding bar 10 is attaehed t-l1e slotted arm 9. On an upright seoured between the sleeper and tie is attaohed che pivot 8, on which s suspended the oseillaning bar 7. This bar at its top is provided Wibh a pin whioh engages the slot of the arm 9, and is provided With a slot in its lower end to engage che pin or wrist of the crank 6.

'Within standards 17 17 are pivoted thelevers H H equidistant from the center of the traek. The forward ends of these levers extend beneath the weighted arm,' and the baek ends are attaehed by pins to the vertieal depressing-bars 1. These bars are held in orifices of the p1ate E and in che guide 16. T0 elevate these bare, the spiral spring 14 is used on a eylindrieai paro, and said spring bears between the head and said guide. The springs hold up these bars sufficiently to be depressed by the device attaohed to the moving ear. The depressing-bars and their conneotions are identical' in construction.

A1: D, Fig. 2, is shown che side of a car. In a mortise in che platform is loosely held the operating-arm 18. In the lower end is held che rol1er 3. The lever 4 is held in the bearing 2, attached 110 the under side of the floor. T0 this is pivoted the said arm, and 011 the right end of the lever is attaehed a weight, the effeet of which is to hold up the arm, and which engages the depressing-bars to operate the swinehwhen pressed down by the foot of the driver or motorman. The dotted lines at Fig. 3 show the positionof the eonnecting parts when che weighted 'arm is thrown to the right, and in this position the switch-bar would be in the position shown in Fig. 1. To throw the oar ofi the main crack, the weighted arm would have to be thrown in the opposite postion.

The operation may be thus desoribed: On the moving of car the operating-arm is de- IOC pressed. This engages the depressng-bar. The end of one of the levers s raised sufficently to carry the weghted arma beyond ts center of gravi'oy, the sa1n e falls down, thereby completing the mo"ement of the switch-bar, and the car s tnereby directed as may suit the purpose of the operator. Any form of sutable devce may be used to depress the engagng bar, and the same may be held up by spring 01 weight. The only essential feature s thai: t shall be capable of depressng the bar that gves the ntial movement. The mechansm s coyered by suitable plates conforming to the surface of the street 01 roac1- bed and are omitted in the drawings.

Havng fu1ly described my nvension, what I clam, and desre 110 secure by Letters Patenn, is-

l. In a car-swteh the combination of the vertcally-held depressing-bar, the lever attached thereto, the weighted arm to engage sad lever, the shaft on whch said weghted ar1n s supported, the crank attached bo said shaft, che oscllating bar engaging With sad crank, tbe slding bar joined with said oscillatng bar and the switeh-bar engagng sad slidjng bar, substantially as descrbed.

2. In a ear-swi'nch bhe combination of the de pressingbar held normally above the streetsurface and adapted to be depressed by a device at-taehed 130 a moving cm, che lever attached thereto, the weighted arm 110 engage saic1 lever, 1;he shaft on whch sad weghted a1n1 is supported, the erank, the oscllating bar connected Wth sad crank, the sliding bar j oined With said oscillabing a1m, and the switch-bar joned wth tl1e sad sldng bar, substantally as deseribed.

In tesnmony that I clan1 the foregoing as my own I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CIIARLES STADTFELD.

Witn esses:

B. PICKERING,

W. D. MCKENNY. 

